Cardinals continue pitching overhaul with intriguing arms in first trade of rebuild

The St. Louis Cardinals were the first team to be active on the trade market this offseason. Chaim Bloom made his move on Tuesday and dealt veteran pitcher Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox. As the trade announces the Cardinals' full intent on a rebuild, the return for Gray brought two intriguing arms that remain consistent with the organization's new shift in pitching development.

Richard Fitts and Brandon Clarke have the high velocity the Cardinals have been chasing.

For one season of Gray's services, the Red Sox felt comfortable with dealing righty Richard Fitts and minor league left-hander Brandon Clarke to St. Louis. The Cardinals chipped in $20 million, which surely helped to increase the return from Boston, but each pitcher offers enough intrigue to have a positive early view on the trade. Gray will immediately slot into the middle of the Boston rotation as the team looks to push towards an extended postseason run. For the Cardinals, Fitts figures to also contribute innings at the major league level.

Last year, former major leaguer Jake Peavy actually mentioned Fitts as a target for the Cardinals in a Nolan Arenado deal. Of course, no deal with Arenado came to fruition, but the hypothetical return in Peavy's mock trade included Fitts and salary dump candidate Masataka Yoshida, who some initially thought could have been sent to St. Louis this time around for Gray. At that point, Fitts had a cup of coffee in the majors, and he built on that debut in 2025. With the big league squad last season, the former sixth-rounder started 10 games and went 2-4 with a 5.00 ERA. Fitts possesses a mid-90s fastball with a solid slider, giving him the strikeout stuff the Cardinals targeted heavily in this past draft. Fitts figures to slide right into the competition for the major league rotation and has the inside track at a starting job. After the deal, Chaim Bloom said that it makes sense to put Kyle Leahy and Fitts as two arms that could round out the starting five.

Coming to St. Louis with Fitts is lefty Brandon Clarke, whom Boston selected in the fifth round of the 2024 draft. Armed with an elite wipeout slider, Clarke struck out over 34% of hitters in two levels of A-ball last year while also featuring a fastball that can hit triple digits. In his short professional career, Clarke has had issues commanding the strike zone, with a walk rate of 15.5% in 38 innings. Like many of the arms the Cardinals selected in this past draft, Clarke has electric stuff and has a high ceiling with a questionable floor. In what would be the worst-case outcome for the Cardinals in this deal, both Clarke and Fitts could become reliable relievers, with Clarke actually having the two-pitch mix to become a lockdown late-inning arm, if needed.